Talking Points:
- Australia’s September trade balance reported a deficit of A$2.317Bln
- The Aussie Dollar was little moved immediately after the data was released
- The print marks the smallest trade deficit since April
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The Aussie Dollar generated little reaction to simultaneous reports of Australia’s trade balance and retail sales. Trade has arguably been one of the driving forces behind economic uncertainty and dovish monetary policy lately. The headline figure showed a trade deficit of A$2.317 Bln in September compared to the forecast for a shortfall of -A$2.900 Bln. This is the narrowest deficit (‘best reading’) since March and a steady improvement from April’s record outflow. Breaking the data down further, exports rose 3 percent – faster than the 1.7 percent pickup in imports. Trade with its largest economic partner, China, shipments abroad grew 7.7 percent to A$7.485 Bln.
A simultaneous release – though carrying far less speculative impact than the trade report – retail sales on a month-over-month basis for the same period matched economists’ forecasts and the prior print at 0.4 percent. The September figure rounded out the third quarter retail sales reading; and accounting for inflation, grew less than expectations of 0.7 percent at a 0.6 percent pace.
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